How Architecture Design Can Lower Hyperconverged...
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Economic Insight Paper How Architecture Design Can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) By Eric Slack, Sr. Analyst December 2017 Enabling you to make the best technology decisions
Transcript of How Architecture Design Can Lower Hyperconverged...
Economic Insight Paper
How Architecture Design Can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) By Eric Slack, Sr. Analyst
December 2017
Enablingyoutomakethebesttechnologydecisions
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 1
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How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 2
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Totalcostofownership(TCO)inITsystemsisafunctionoftheircapacitytodowork,whichinturn,isafunctionofstorageandcomputeperformance.InaHyperconvergedInfrastructure(HCI),thiscapacityisexpressedintermsofthenumberofvirtualmachines(VMs)thatcanbesupportedforanygivenconfiguration.TCOisalsoaffectedbyarchitecturaldesign,asHCIscombinestorageandcomputeresourcesintoascale-outcluster.
InthisTCOanalysiswecalculatethestorageandcomputeperformanceofNetAppHCIandtwoleadingcompetitivesystemsandcomparehowtheirdifferentarchitecturesimpacttotalcostatvaryinglevelsofscale.
BenefitsofHyperconvergedInfrastructure
HCItechnologycombinescomputepowerwithlocalstorageandstoragenetworking,runningoneoftheavailablehypervisorplatformsinaclusteredarchitecture.Aturnkeysolution,HCIshavebeenpopularforspecificapplicationsthatrequiredanewordedicatedinfrastructuresuchasVDIorforisolatedenvironments,likebranchofficesorremotedepartments.
Asascale-outsolution,HCIsaredesignedtobedeployedquickly,besimpletooperateandbeeasilyexpanded,makingthemagoodfitforITgeneralistsorevennon-ITpersonnel,insomecases.Thesecomprehensiveinfrastructuresareflexibleenoughtosupportavarietyofdifferentapplicationsandcanbeconfiguredtomeetthespecificresourcerequirementsofadiverseworkloadmix–toacertainextent.
ChallengesofHyperconvergedInfrastructure
Hyperconvergedclustersexpandeasily,butthemeanunitofscaleisthenodeitself.And,oftennodesintheclustermusthavethesamestorageconfigurations.Thislackofresourceflexibilityrunscountertoaprimarybenefitofthehyperconvergedinfrastructure,theabilitytosupportawidevarietyofworkloads.
Companieswanttoconsolidateapplications,andtheinfrastructuresupportingthoseapplications,intoanHCIcluster(oneofthefindingsofastudyconductedbyEvaluatorGroup,“HCIintheEnterprise”).Thisconsolidationcreatesanon-homogeneouscollectionofworkloadsthatcanrequireadynamicmixofcomputeandstorageresources.Unfortunately,mostHCIclustersforceyoutoaddtheseresourcesinlock-stepwitheachother,basedupontheconfigurationoftheappropriatenodes.Butinadditiontoscaling,there’samorefundamentalchallengeinsizingHCIthatcreatesinefficiencyandincreasescost.
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StorageandComputePerformance
HCIhavetwoperformancecomponents,storageandcompute,thatmustbesuppliedinsufficientamountstosupportagivennumberofapplicationVMs.Storageperformanceisameasureofasystem’sabilitytosupplystorageIOtoaVMworkloadwithinanacceptableresponsetime,basedonthestoragedevicesandstoragesoftwarestack.Computeperformanceisthesystem’sabilitytoprocessprograminstructionsbasedontheproductofasystem’sclockspeedandavailableCPUcores,foragivenclassofprocessors.Formoreinformationonthetestingprocess,seetheIOmarklinkinthenextsection.
ComputeandstorageperformanceshouldbecalculatedindependentlyforHCIsystemssincetheyrepresentdifferentperformancecapabilitiesandaredrivenbydifferentsubsystemswithinthehyperconvergedarchitecture.Themostappropriatemetricforexpressingthis“performancecapacity”isthenumberofVMssupportedbyeachnode,sinceitallowsbothstorageandcomputeperformancerequirementstoberepresentedinasingleper-nodespec.ThefollowingsectionexplainshowstorageandcomputeperformanceweredeterminedforthisTCOcomparison.
ExplanationofPerformanceTesting
InordertoevaluatestorageperformancetheIOmarkbenchmarktoolwasused,withtheIOmark-VMworkload,whichcalculatesthenumberofVMssupportedforagivenconfiguration.IOmark-VMusesreal-worldworkloadsbasedontheVMmarkspecdevelopedbyVMware.Theseservervirtualizationworkloadsareacompositeofapplicationserverstypicallyfoundinamoderndatacenter,includingthefollowing:
• Exchangedatabaseserverwitha1,000-userworkloadrunningontheExchangeserver.• DVDstoredatabaseapplicationwiththreeDVDstorewebapplicationserversgenerating
workloads• OliodatabaseandOliowebapplicationservers• Hypervisorautomationworkloads
Forstorageperformance,thetwoCompetitorHCIsystemswerefoundtosupport80VMspernodeandtheNetAppHCI230VMsperstoragenode,asshowninTable1.Thisalmost3:1differentialisonefactorfortheNetAppHCI’slowertotalcost.(seesectionbelow“WhyNetAppHCICostsLess”).
ComputeperformancewasdeterminedthoroughananalysisofpublishedVMmarktestsfortheserversystemsemployedbythethreeHCIproductscompared(seeTable1).TheNetAppHCIComputenodes,whichusean18-coreprocessor,werefoundtohavelowercomputeperformancethanthetwoCompetitorsystemswhichuse22-coreCPUs.Thespecsforthesesystemsarelistedbelow.
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HCISystem StoragePerformance ComputePerformance
NetAppHCI 230VMspernode 88VMspernode
Competitor1 80VMspernode 128VMspernode
Competitor2 80VMspernode 128VMspernode
Table1
HCISystemsUsedinthisComparison
BothoftheCompetitorHCIsystemswerecomprisedofaclusterof2Unodes.EachnodecontaineddualIntelE5-2699v4CPUswith22-cores,512GBofmemoryand3TBofall-flashstorage.Theclusterwasscaledbyaddingsinglenodes,fromaminimumoffournodes.
NetAppHCIconsistedofaclusterofComputenodesandStoragenodes,eachoccupyingone-halfof1Urackspace.TheComputenodeswerecomprisedofdualIntelE5-2695v4,18-coreCPUswith768GBofmemory.TheStoragenodeswerecomprisedof8-coreCPUswith384GBofmemoryand2.88TBofflashstorage.TheclusterwasscaledbyaddingsinglenodesfromaminimumoffourStorageandtwoComputenodes.
ForthiscomparisonweusedVMwarevSphereESXi6.0onallthreeHCIsystems.
Datareduction,compressionanddeduplication,increaseeffectivestoragecapacitybutcanalsoreducestorageperformance.BothCompetitorsystemshadcompressionanddeduplicationdisabledforthestoragetests.Conversely,intheNetAppHCIin-linecompression,in-linededuplicationandpost-processcompressionarealwaysenabled.Toprovideadirectcomparison,bothcompetitorswouldneedtoenablecompressionanddeduplication,mostlikelyfurtherreducingthenumberofVMspernodesupported.
Foran800-VMenvironmenttheconfigurationsshowninFigure1arerequired,basedontheperformancenumbersfromTable1.
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Figure1
BoththeCompetitorsystemclustershaveatotaloftennodes,eachnodeoccupyinga2Uchassis.TheNetAppclusteriscomprisedoffourteennodes,eachconsiderablysmaller,withfournodesineach2Uchassis.ThebottomchassishasthebezelremovedtoshowtwoStorageandtwoComputenodes,asanexample.
ForthetotaldeployedHCIcluster,thedatacenterfootprintwasreducedfrom20Uto8UwithNetAppHCI,areductionof60%.Acquisitioncostisalsolower(seebelow)forNetAppHCI.AlthoughtheNetAppclusterhas14nodes,bothStorageandComputenodesarelessexpensivethanthecombinationHCInodesoftheCompetitorsystems,resultingina25%loweracquisitioncostthanCompetitor1anda57%loweracquisitioncostthanCompetitor2.
Thetotalcostofownership(TCO),showninTable1below,foreachoftheHCIsolutionstestediscomprisedofthefollowingcomponents:
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 6
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Acquisition-includesthemanufactures’listpriceofeachHCInode,oneVMwarevSphereEnterpriselicenseforeachnode,anymanagementsoftwarelicensesnotincludedinthebasenodeprice,deploymentcostspluscables.
Support-comprisedofapplicablehardwareandsoftwaremaintenancecostsforoneyear.
Overhead-includesAdministration,PowerandSpace:
Administrationiscomprisedofclustermanagementandhypervisormanagement.Clustermanagementrequiresonehourperweekforadminsupportofthehardwareinfrastructure(includingstorage),regardlessofthenumberofnodesdeployed.Hypervisormanagementrequiresone-halfhourperweekforeachnodethatrunsahypervisor.ThisiseveryHCInodeforCompetitorHCIsandjusttheComputenodesfortheNetAppHCI.Acostof$75perhourwasusedforanITadmin(basedonafullyburdenedcostof$150,000peryear).
Powerwascalculatedat$0.15perkWh,basedon300WperNetAppnodes(StorageorCompute)and450WperHCInode.
Spacewascalculatedat$2000per42Urackpermonth.
Competitor#1
Clusterof10HCInodesasdescribedabove
Acquisition $879,830
Support 78,033
Overhead 40,661
_________
Total–800VMs $998,524
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Competitor#2
Clusterof10HCInodesasdescribedabove
Acquisition $1,526,160
Support 62,848
Overhead 40,661
_________
Total–800VMs $1,629,669
NetAppHCI
Clusterof4Storagenodesand10Computenodes
Acquisition $655,240
Support 71,599
Overhead 32,843
_________
Total–800VMs $759,682
TheTCOforthesethreesystemsareshowninFigure2.Itshouldbenotedthatatlistprices,Acquisition(mostlyhardwarecost)dominatesthesecostcalculations.Ifadiscountisapplied,theSupportandOverheadcomponentswouldmakeupalargerpercentageofthetotalcost.
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Figure2
NetAppHCIis24%lessexpensiveforan800-VMenvironmentcomparedwithCompetitor1and53%lessthanCompetitor2.WhentheinfrastructureisscaledtosupportmoreVMs,thiscostdifferentialgrows,asshowninFigure3.
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Figure3
WhentheenvironmentgrowstheinfrastructurehastoscaletosupportmoreVMs.ThisgrowthisbasedonthestorageandcomputeperformanceshowninTable1.NetAppHCIaddsaComputenodeforevery88VMsbutonlyneedsanewStoragenodeforevery230VMswhiletheCompetitorsystemsmustaddanewHCInodeevery80VMs.
Theseper-nodeperformancedifferencescreatemorecostdisparitybetweenHCIsolutions.At1500VMstheNetAppHCIis28%lessthanCompetitor1and56%lessthanCompetitor2.At2500VMstheNetAppHCIcansave33%overCompetitor1and59%comparedwithCompetitor2.
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Analysis-WhyNetAppHCIHasaLowerTCO
StoragePerformance
NetAppHCItestingshowstheirsystemhas3xthestorageperformanceoftheothertwosystems,onaper-nodebasis.WhilethereasonbehindtheseperformanceresultsisbeyondthescopeofthisTCOanalysis*,themanufacturerpointsoutthattheSolidFireElementOSsoftwarethatrunsthestoragenodeswithinNetAppHCIwasdesignedtomaximizeflashperformance,unlikeothersoftwaredefinedstoragetechnologiesthatweremostlydesignedfordiskstorage.
BetterstorageperformancemeanstheNetAppHCIclusterrequiresfewerstoragenodestosupportagivennumberofVMs.This,inturn,driveslowercostsofacquisitionandsupport(softwarecostsarebasedonthehypervisor,whichdoesn'trunonStoragenodes).
DisaggregatedArchitecture
TheotherfactorbehinditslowertotalcostistheNetAppHCIarchitecture.Sincemosthyperconvergedinfrastructurescombinestorageandcomputefunctionsineachnode,thelowerofthesetwoperformancenumbersbecomesthedeterminantofthatproduct’sabilitytosupportVMs.InthiscaseeachofthecompetitorHCIsystemsislimitedto80VMspernodebasedontheirstorageperformance.
NetAppHCIhasseparatestorageandcomputenodessoclusterscanbebuiltbasedonthenumberofeachnodetyperequired,insteadofinafixedratioofstorageandcompute.ThisdisaggregatedarchitectureallowsaNetAppHCIclustertotakeadvantageofitsstorageperformance(230VMsperStoragenode)withoutstrandingtheseresourcesbyscalingbasedonthelowercomputeperformance.Italsoallowstheclustertoexpandstorageorcomputecapacityinamoregranularfashion,andbettermeettherequirementsoftheaggregateworkloadsitsupports.
Summary/Conclusions
Historically,HCIshavetradedsimplicityforefficiency.Bycombiningstorageandcomputeresourcesintothesamephysicalnodestheymakedeploymentandexpansioneasier,butmakesizingandscalinglesspreciseandmoreexpensive.TheNetAppHCIarchitectureseparatesthesetworesourcessotheycanscaleindependently,allowingclusterstobeconfiguredwithlesswasteandenablingthemtoleveragetheirmuchgreaterstorageperformance.TheresultisanHCIsolutionwithaTCObetween24%and59%lessthanthatoftwoleadingcompetitors.
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AboutNetApp
NetAppisthedataauthorityforhybridcloud.Weprovideafullrangeofhybridclouddataservicesthatsimplifymanagementofapplicationsanddataacrosscloudandon-premisesenvironmentstoacceleratedigitaltransformation.Togetherwithourpartners,weempowerglobalorganizationstounleashthefullpotentialoftheirdatatoexpandcustomertouchpoints,fostergreaterinnovationandoptimizetheiroperations.Formoreinformation,visitwww.netapp.com.#DataDriven
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